For He Who Challenges the Moon
by DeafWhisper
Summary: Riley Jaeger will never get the recognition from his assumed godly parent he desires. But that's OK, he'll go on a quest one day and become a true hero, and even the male-hating moon god will have to recognize him as her son.


For He Who Challenges the Moon

Chapter 1

A blonde haired boy of no more than 9 sat in a bush observing three deer in a meadow before him. The furthest away was the tallest deer, a tall and proud buck who cockily grazed on berries from another bush. Slightly closer was a doe, noticeable shorter than the buck, but still considerably larger than the boy. The last was small fawn, innocently grazing on the berries in a bush no more than five feet from the boy.

The boy pulled up a dark grey handkerchief from his neck to his face and raised a hunting knife. He took a deep breath before throwing it at the fawn, the blade sinking into it's thigh, with its parents running off from the noise unaware that their young would not be joining them ever again. The boy emerged from his bush and approached the fawn, who was desperately trying to escape its death by dragging its body away from the approaching boy.

"Tough break," the boy sympathized ripping his knife from the fawn's thigh. He knelt down net to the fawn to end its suffering before hearing a branch break from his right. The boy's eyes widened before he ran into a bush. He spotted a blonde girl stumble into the clearing.

"Gods!" she shrieked before running to the fawn side. She knelt down and started rubbing its wounded thigh. "Poor thing…"

The boy growled at the sight. _Stupid girl. Shouldn't have ran. Now I'm going to lose out on lunch because I thought she was a monster._ He raised his blade ready to confront her before he heard two larger pairs of footsteps run into the meadow. The first was a boy much older than him with blonde hair and blue eyes, carrying a bronze sword. The second a slightly smaller girl with black hair and blue eyes also carrying a bronze sword.

"Annabeth? Are you all right?" the girl asked, running to the original girl's side.

"All right?" the boy chuckled as he knelt down and patted the blonde girl's back. "She took down her first deer!"

"R-right," the blonde girl - Annabeth the boy assumed - replied weakly.

 _Her deer? That's_ _ **my lunch**_ _she stole!_

The boy chopped of the still-suffering fawn's head and picked up the body. "Let's get it back to camp. Lunchtime!" he laughed before heading out of the clearing.

The black haired girl noticed Annabeth still crying and tried to console her. "Annabeth I know you might be in shock since it's your first kill, but you have to understand it's the circle of life."

"Y-yeah, I g-guess," Annabeth muttered.

"C'mon, let's get back to camp," the older girl smiled.

(-)

The boy tracked the three back to their camp and watched as they skinned and prepared the fawn. The boy sat in the branches of a tree as he devised a plan. He sneakily hopped down and found the largest hand-sized rock, and threw it as hard as he could against a tree emitting a loud "THUNK!"

"What was that?"

"I don't know, I'll check it out."

The boy grabbed a rock and climbed a nearby tree, seeing the black haired girl walk under his tree with her sword drawn. He threw the rock away from the camp as the girl crouched, and sneaked away. _Stupid girl._ The boy climbed down as quietly as possible before sneaking to another side of the camp and letting out his best imitation of a wolf howl.

"Luke, I'm scared!"

"Annabeth, take this, I'm going to find out what's messing with us."

The boy snuck into another bush as he saw the blonde haired boy - Luke he assumed - exit the camp. _Now to teach that girl a lesson._ He exited his bush and walked into the camp, seeing the girl - Annabeth - gripping a dagger so hard her knuckles were turning white. "Hello there."

"Wh-who are you?" She asked, slowly backing away.

"The same person who downed that fawn you claimed," the boy spat.

"I-I-I-"

" _I_ don't care. You stole my lunch," the boy accused, walking to the girl, prying the dagger from her hands, and grabbing her by her collar. "What are you some daughter of Hermes?"

"You-you're like me?"

"No, I'm no son of a thief god," the boy growled as he pushed her to the ground.

"But I am!"

The boy turned around to see the older boy rushing him with his bronze sword raised. He rolled away from the girl as the older boy stood between the boy and Annabeth.

"Care to explain to me why pushed my friend to the ground?" the older boy asked.

"She stole my lunch," the younger boy replied. "She's just a stupid girl, so why do you care?"

"She's my friend. Now I'm going to say this once, apologize," the older boy demanded, pointing his sword at the younger boy.

The younger boy looked at the elder, then at Annabeth. He knew there was no way he could defeat the older boy, so he took a chance. He charged the older boy, with his hunting knife in a reverse grip.

The older boy smirked and readied himself for the charge, easily deflecting the small knife. "Never bring a knife to a sword fight," he chuckled as he slashed at the younger boy. The younger boy rolled through the elder boys legs, slashing at his back. The older boy turned around cursing only to receive a handful of dirt in his face. "Di immortales!" the older boy cursed.

The younger boy took this opportunity to run back into the woods, only to feel a hand grab his throat, pulling him up and throwing him to the ground on his back. When he overcame his daze he saw the older raven haired girl staring down at him, her bronze sword at his throat. "Try something, I dare you." The boy growled in response. "Now I'm going to ask you a few questions. Question one: who are you."

"The rightful owner of that fawn," the boy growled.

"Bull. Question two: why are you attacking my friends?"

"That girl stole my fawn. I was merely taking back my lunch."

"Your fawn? Annabeth took down that deer."

"Is that statement one?"

The older girl slashed at the boys cheek, drawing blood. "Shut up."

"I'm sorry for stealing your food."

The boy tilted his head up to see Annabeth and the older boy staring down at him. "Funny way of showing it."

"Let's try this again," the older boy began. "I'm Luke, this is Annabeth, and the girl with her sword to your throat is Thalia. What's your name?"

"Riley."

"Okay Riley, I take it you're a demigod?"

"I guess. My mom hasn't claimed me yet."

"My condolences," Luke offered as he knelt down. "I'm a son of Hermes myself, Annabeth here is a daughter of Athena, whilst Thalia is a daughter of Zeus."

"Bull. Mr. Apollo said that Zeus isn't allowed to have kids," Riley countered.

"Well, Thalia here quite enjoys breaking rules. Now can Thalia let you go without you trying to kill us?"

"As long as I get my fawn."

"We'll share it. Thalia, let him go."

Thalia grumbled as she sheathed her sword. "Mr. Apollo?"

"He comes to check in on me sometimes. Tells me stories about Olympus," Riley answer standing up.

"Well he can't be your parent. Gods aren't allowed to spend time with their kids," Thalia commented, still glaring at Riley. "I'm going to check on lunch."

"Don't mind her, she can be a little harsh at first," Luke smiled.

"Maybe it's her time of the month. Mr. Apollo told me girls get grumpy around it," Riley offered.

Luke let out a hearty chuckle. "Maybe, just don't let Thalia hear you say that." Luke then walked off, leaving Riley alone with Annabeth.

"I'm sorry I took credit for your buck," the girl offered timidly.

"Fawn."

"Excuse me?" Annabeth asked.

"The deer was a baby, so it's called a fawn. A buck is an adult male. You're a daughter of Athena, so you should know these things," Riley spat.

"Oh, sorry. I just wanted to be friends," Annabeth muttered.

"Why do you want to be my friend?" Riley asked, eyebrow raised.

"I was sad and alone before Luke and Thalia found me. I thought you might be the same," Annabeth offered with a weak smile.

"Just don't take credit for my things and leave me alone," Riley snorted, before walking past her to where Luke and Thalia were preparing the venison.

"Why are your eyes different colored?"

"What?" Riley asked, eyes wide and gripping his handkerchief.

"Your eyes, one is blue and the other is green," he heard Annabeth clarify from behind him.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Riley muttered.

"Oh. Well it was nice to meet you, even if you were mean at first."

Riley opened his mouth to blame her 'thievery', but decided against it and walked away.

(-)

A fourteen year old Riley woke up in his top bunk in the dark Hermes cabin. "Looks like it's my time of the month, with these dreams and all," he whispered.

"Riley... shut... up," he heard Luke mutter from the bunk below him, voice muffled, likely by his pillow.

"Love you too, brother from another Olympian," Riley muttered, falling back asleep.


End file.
